SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – How concerned are the Giants about their aging, scramble-mode rotation?

Well, consider this: they essentially have two starting pitchers in their bullpen with Ryan Vogelsong and Yusmeiro Petit. And they re still concerned they won t be able to cover innings.

Even Hunter Strickland, the presumed closer at Triple-A Sacramento, will be asked to stretch out to multiple-inning appearances in the minors, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. That subject was broached on Sunday when the Giants optioned Strickland and made nine other trims to finalize a couple of roster decisions.

He was much improved, Bochy said of Strickland, who gave up a major league-record six homers last postseason and then served up a homer in each of his first two outings this spring.

Strickland rebounded to throw perfect innings in each of his last three appearances, including a save in a 9-8 victory Saturday over the Mariners at Peoria.

Early on, it was a tough go but it shows you the toughness of this kid, Bochy said. He threw very well the last three outings. He had Tommy John (in 2013), missed a lot of time. This will help his development.

I m sure he ll do some of the closing (at Sacramento). We did talk about versatility with him, go an inning-plus or two innings. It may be a need for our club so we did talk to him about that.

Strickland never had a realistic shot to make the club because he had minor league options. The Giants still face a crunch for the final bullpen spot between Jean Machi and George Kontos, neither of whom can be sent down without being exposed to waivers.

The backup catcher and outfield competitions are apparently over, though, with Juan Perez and Andrew Susac being optioned to Sacramento. Bochy held off making it official that Hector Sanchez and Justin Maxwell were on the club, but he said that nothing is pending on the trade front. So you can assume the rest.

Here s how Bochy described the Susac/Sanchez decision:

I talked to Andrew for quite awhile. A lot of variables came into play. Sanchez had a good spring, caught well, threw well. Andrew lost some time. The tooth infection slowed him down, and of course, the wrist injury. We want him to get some playing time. He just needs to play. This kid, I said this last year: He made so much progress both from the catching side and offensive side. There s not one thing we gave him to work on. Just go down there and get some playing time.

Hector came in in the best shape we ve seen him in. He caught well. We like his focus behind the plate. It allowed us to make this decision to let Andrew play in the minors. This is not hurtful. In the long term, it s only going to he helpful for him and for us.

And sending down Perez?

He came in bigger and stronger but it s evident he s not at the top of his game, Bochy said. Defensive or offensively, he ha not been on top of his game.

The Giants sent down three players who were on their World Series roster, and several more who will be receiving rings in a few days. Because of that, Bochy acknowledged these cuts were tougher to make.

It s never easy, he said. We re going to San Francisco and it d be fair to these kids to let them know now. They ve been wondering. Let them get ready for the season. Any time they re part of your success it s not easy, but they all had a great attitude.

Even Bochy s son, Brett?

Brett threw some (stuff), Bochy joked. But other than that they were all right.